Lady Bears place 7th at ACCA

The Barclay Lady Bears traveled to Joplin, MO for the fourth time this season and ended with a 7th place finish at the ACCA National Tournament.

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By Royce Bryan

Kiowa County Signal - Kiowa County, KS

By Royce Bryan

Posted Mar. 7, 2013 at 8:02 PM
Updated Mar 7, 2013 at 8:05 PM

By Royce Bryan

Posted Mar. 7, 2013 at 8:02 PM
Updated Mar 7, 2013 at 8:05 PM

Haviland, Ks.

The Barclay Lady Bears traveled to Joplin, MO for the fourth time this season and ended with a 7th place finish at the ACCA National Tournament.

In the opening round game the Bears were matched up against the Hillsdale Lady Saints out of Moore, OK. Hillsdale was the defending National Champs and the #3 seed for the tournament. In the first half the Lady Bears found themselves trailing by 18 despite shooting only 16% from the field.

In the second half all those missed shots turned into made shots. At one point, the Lady Bears made 5 straight 3 pointers by 4 different players. This cut the lead to 55-52 with around 5 minutes to play. Unfortunately, that was as close as the Lady Bears would get as they lost a hard fought game 73-63.

Lingafelter said, “I could not have been more proud of these girls. We could have just quit but they kept fighting and it turned out to be a great game."

On Friday the Lady Bears had to battle through the disappointment of the night before as they faced off against AFLBS out of Minnesota. Early in the game Artaya Climes left the game with an injury and even though she returned later in the game it was not enough for the Lady Bears. The Bears led the entire game against AFLBS only to surrender the lead with under a minute to go. AFLBS won 55-52.

Saturday, in the 7th place game the Lady Bears jumped out on top of Calvary Bible College early and often. The Lady Warriors had no answers for the Lady Bears passing and cutting offense as they coasted to a 53-43 victory to secure a 7th place finish.

"We played the eventual National Champions toe to toe and that is something to build off. Losing Artaya, coupled with the disappointment of playing well and losing to Hillsdale, seemed to take the wind out of our sails against AFLBS. That was the one that got away. Our final game was a testament to the girls and the desire to end the season with a solid victory," said Lingafelter in response to the Lady Bears 7th place finish.